for the first private group to successfully put a robotic rover on the moon. Enthusiasts have long dreamed of humanity reaching the Moon and, after that, the stars; the hope is that this XPrize will encourage research around the world that will make space exploration cost-effective to make that dream a realistic one.

So if they buy a falcon 1 for 8 milion and built there rover for just 2, than it can be done. If they have to make their own rocket also, that's suicide for the prize. So let's hope SpaceX can built a lot of Falcon ones.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) of El Segundo, Calif., for example, will give competing teams a 10 percent price reduction on a launch aboard one of its Falcon launch vehicles - identified as "the first preferred launch provider" for the competition in a Google Lunar X Prize press statement released today.

So the competitors will have to pay $ 6.3 mio only for a Falcon 1-launch, $ 7.65 mio for a Falcon 1-launch using a Merlin 1a, $ 31.5 mio for a Falcon 9-launch and $ 81 mio for a Falcon 9 Heavy-launch.

But until 2012/2013 (

Quote:

Contestants have until Dec. 31, 2012, to qualify for the $20 million grand prize, which will drop to $15 million for missions accomplished any time between Jan. 1, 2013, and Dec. 31, 2014.

) these prices will drop significantly because the present prices don't account for reusability - according to Elon Musk. The numbers got in the SpaceX-related thread in the Financial Barriers-section - to be recalculated - up to now indicate that the drops may be in the order of tens of millions of dollars regarding the Falcon 9 Heavy and that they will be in the order of millions of dollars regarding Falcon 1 and Falcon 9.

So the prize-money may cover the launch costs easyly.

The rover itself might be an investment significantly below $ 30 mio or even $ 20 mio while the R&D-investment may be larger than that into the rover itself.

A success of the competition will make NASA, ESA, ROSKOSMOS and JAXA lokk bad.

A success of the competition will make NASA, ESA, ROSKOSMOS and JAXA lokk bad.

I agree with NASA, ESA and JAXA but not with Roscosmos (when I see them as the follow-up agency from the Soviet Union). They had real great achievements with their robotic lunar missions, named Lunochod.

And these are even a step further than the new X-Prize. Getting samples back to Earth.

_________________"The hardest hurdle to space isn't the technicalities and money. But rather, the courage and the will to do it." - Burt Rutan.